The present invention relates to heart valve implants such as for percutaneous aortic valve implantation in patients having heart disease.
Valvular heart disease (VHD) is any disease that affects one or more valves of the heart for a large number of patients and often requires elaborate diagnostic procedures, intervention, and long-term management. Heart valve replacement traditionally involved open heart surgery with associated risks including, high mortality, incidence of neurological damage, stroke, and repeated valve replacement.
Minimally invasive procedures have now been developed for the valve replacement that are much less traumatic and reduce the risks associated with surgical valve replacement.
Percutaneous valve implantation including percutaneous aortal valve implantation (PAVI) and percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) are less invasive alternatives to open heart surgery for patients in need of heart valve replacement. In percutaneous valve implantation, prosthetic implants are delivered through catheters using transvenous, transarterial, or transapical techniques.
There are associated risks associated with percutaneous valve implantation including leakage after initial valve replacement which can lead to stroke. This risk is highest in the initial weeks after implantation but continues for up to about three months. Valves typically have a circular or cylindrical circumference while diseased vessels are typically not. Initially after implantation until thrombus fills in gaps that may exist between the valve and the vessel, the chance for leaking is higher.
There remains a need in the art for a method and device of implanting a valve that will reduce the risk of leakage and stroke.